Back to Reality

King-sized bed. Warm showers. Big screen TV. Delicious food. Workout facilities.

Abnormal as it sounds, that was our Peace Corps life for nearly 10 days.

Every Peace Corps volunteer is required to attend an In-Service Training (IST) three months into service. IST serves two purposes: 1. Gives volunteers more technical training after gaining a better understanding of their jobs and communities; 2. Gives them a mental health break. Most ISTs last only a few days, but our Pre-Service Training was cut short one week because our late arrival date, so we tacked that week to IST, which meant we got to spend nine and a half days reuniting with our fellow Tico 21ers.

Peace Corps Costa Rica and Crowne Plaza in San José apparently have such a good relationship, 44 volunteers were allowed to invade one of the nicest hotels in the capital city. Most volunteers slept three to a room. Megon and I were spoiled and got a room all to ourselves. When we checked in, we immediately went to the gym and had our first gym workout in six months. That was followed by amazingly hot showers, which made us both feel absolutely numb (hot showers don’t exist in our community). Then came the bed and its five fluffy white pillows and a mattress the size of a Volkswagen – a big difference from our single bed at home. Both of us felt like we had slept on a cloud.

Other than enjoying the comfortable accommodations, the best part of IST was reconnecting with friends we hadn't seen since training and sharing our stories. One day I asked Barton, a friend of ours, “How many times in our lifetime will we ever get to spend nine days in a hotel for free with so many friends?” His response: “Never.” It was truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Our timing in San José couldn’t have been better. The inauguration celebration of the new National Stadium spanned five straight days during our stay. Considering the stadium – just down the street from our hotel – was a gift from the Chinese government, Costa Rica and China played in the inaugural soccer match. Hours before the game started, a group of us went to lunch at an Asian restaurant, and on our way home we spotted China’s national soccer team walking toward our hotel. We caught up to them, and even walked with them for a few blocks, but we eventually parted ways. Most of us assumed they were headed for a pre-match meal at the Chinese restaurant across the street from our hotel. 

Our time in San José wasn’t all fun and games. We got down to business and had a variety of useful sessions from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day but Sunday. We brought home a mountain of information and ideas, teaching books and communicative activities – all of which will help our performance as teacher trainers, community-class English teachers and cultural integrators.

On Thursday morning, we said good-bye to our friends and our fantasy 4-star hotel world. We headed back to our community motivated, re-energized – and a couple pounds heavier. Yes, it felt good, but after spending so long in a warm and dry climate, our return to Sarapiquí was a shock to the system. Stepping off the bus felt like stepping into a sauna. Temperatures in the low 90s zapped our energy like a wicked Voldemort spell.

It didn’t take long to feel at home, though. That night we taught adverbs of frequency to 26 teenagers who showed up for our community English class. The next day 14 adults showed up for for the same lesson. That morning we knew life was truly back to normal when I caught three hens trying to walk into the kitchen and Megon caught one of our family’s cows drinking from the washing machine.

Small World

The other day Megon and I rode the bus into Puerto Viejo, the largest town in Sarapiquí, for a quick trip to the bank. As our bus began to depart for home, we spotted a teenage boy sporting some Ropa Americana, which is used clothing from the United States that is imported and sold here for a nice profit. This wasn’t any old used T-shirt, though. His shirt had “Noatak, Alaska,” printed on the front! We figured it probably goes down as the most well traveled Ropa Americana in Costa Rica.

Our First Visitors

On Sunday, Megon and I will be traveling to San José to pick up her Aunt Shelly, Uncle Dawson and two cousins, Ben and Katie, from the airport. Traveling all the way from Seattle, Washington, they will be our first official visitors. Here’s a brief overview of our itinerary: Three days getting to know Sarapiquí and our community (all four will serve as guest helpers for our community English class), four days at the beach in Cahuita and one night in San José before they head back to the States.